To apply paint to a small area such as a hand rail, window or door frame, or cutting into a corner or in a congested area it can be more convenient to use a brush than a typical roller. Throughout this specification, the term"brush"is intended to cover items with a handle having bristles attached thereto. The bristles are preferably encapsulated together in a cage for picking up a coating of liquid on the bristles. Such liquid can include paint, ink, varnish, glue, etc.

Paint can be deposited on the bristles of a brush by dipping into a container of paint; but when the brush is raised, excess paint can flow down the bristles causing it to drip. Hence it is often necessary to remove the excess paint from the bristles prior to application, otherwise paint can drip off or at least cause an unevenly applied coat of paint.

The usual practice is to remove the excess paint off the bristles by wiping the bristles onto the edge of the container. A less common practice is to press the bristles against the inner wall of the container. In either case the brush is usually rotated 180° to wipe excess paint off the other side. This can be an awkward movement for some people and result in drops of paint being flipped onto the floor. A paint container usually has a cylindrical shape and, since the brush has a straight edge, it is rather cumbersome to remove the excess paint off the bristles on a curved edge of a round container. As the bristles wipe over the curved edge, the wiping force applied onto outer sides of the bristles is far greater, resulting in more paint being removed off the edges than at the centre of the <BR> <BR> <BR> bristles. Also it often causes paint to run out over the edges of the container and drip _ onto the floor. If such dripped paint is then put back into the container, it can cause

contamination. In addition, in the case of a conventional paint can with its press-on metal lid, paint gathers and solidifies in the groove in the rim of the can making it difficult for the lid to properly seal the can, so reducing its storage life.

. During the time taken for a painting operation, the paint in the can will usually start to settle. To overcome this the paint needs to be stirred or otherwise agitated from time to time. This can be a messy operation with a stirring stick dripping paint and needing to be stored in a safe place. There is a need to be able to satisfactorily agitate the paint in the can without the inconvenience of then needing to wipe and store a stirrer. This would encourage more frequent agitation by the operator with a consequent improvement in the consistency of the paint being applied.

As painting is a rather tedious and messy task, frequent rest may be required by the user.

During the rest period, the brush is normally placed across the edge of the container, making it rather unstable and often the handle gets smudged with paint and needs to be wiped clean before the next use. It would be useful to have a facility to rest the brush whereby it does not deposit paint on the rim nor get that paint from the rim onto the handle of the brush.

Paint is usually purchased in a standard 4,6 or 10 litre paint container. There are at least the following three potential disadvantages for the painter if they use these in conjunction with a paint brush: (a) If the container is full of paint then it is heavy to carry around.

(b) If the container is almost empty then it can be too deep to reach into for the paint without getting paint onto the brush handle or the painter's hands.

(c) The container can be awkward to handle during the painting operation.

Paint is applied on a surface by stroking the brush forward and backward until the paint is evenly spread. As the bristles in the brush retain limited paint, this operation of dipping the bristles and wiping off excess paint prior to painting is repeated over and over again until the desired surface is painted.

There have been many ideas proposed to ease or overcome the problems discussed above. These include the attachment of a wire across the mouth of a can of paint or a new container with side wiping edge and/or a receptacle to hold a brush. But each of these earlier proposals has only partially overcome the problems described above. The present invention seeks to eliminate or at least diminish the above disadvantages.

Accordingly, in one aspect the invention provides a hand held paint container comprising a bottom with upstanding side walls and a divider extending from the bottom to near the top of the container, said divider extending only part of the way across the container and said divider having a substantial horizontal top edge for wiping brushes.

The divider may comprise a flattened tongue-like member rising from the bottom of the container. It may be spaced from the side walls at one end of the divider, but it preferably rises centrally from the bottom of the container and is spaced from the side walls at both ends. The divider may comprise a flat sheet rising from the bottom of the container and may be selectively attachable and detachable from the bottom of the container.

Preferably the divider comprises a hollow member integrally formed with the bottom of the container with said hollow open to the underside of the container. The side walls of the container and the hollow divider may be tapered in opposite directions so that the container will nest into an identical second container with the divider of the nesting second container sliding into the hollow of the divider of the nested container.

The length of the divider may extend for between 50% and 90% of the inside dimension of the container and the width of the divider for less than 40% of the inside dimension of the container at right angles to said length. Preferably length of the divider may extend for between 60% and 80% of the inside dimension of the container and the width of the divider for less than 30% of the inside dimension of the container at right angles to said length.

The term"divider"as used in this specification means a member which divides the container into two pools which are interconnected by a substantial channel around at least one end of the divider. The term divider is not meant to encompass a member which separates the container into pools which are not substantially interconnected.

Embodiments of the invention will now be described with reference to the attached drawings where: Figure 1 is a perspective view from above of a container constructed in accordance with a particularly preferred first embodiment of the present invention; Figure 2 is a plan (top) view of the container shown in Figure 1; Figure 3 is a vertical section along the line A-A of Figure 2 ; Figure 4 is an enlarged detail of part of Figure 3 ; Figure 5 is a perspective view from above of a container constructed in accordance with a second embodiment of the invention ; Figure 6 is a plan (top) view of the container shown in Figure 5; Figure 7 is a vertical section along the line B-B of Figure 6; and Figure 8 is an enlarged detail of part of Figure 7.

Referring to the embodiment illustrated in Figures 1 to 4, the container 1 has a base 2 and four curved side walls 3,4,5 and 6 which together define the body of the container. The base 2 has a foot 13 near each corner. A handle 7 is attached to the body via a pair of recesses located entirely on the outside of the container walls 5 and 6. The handle 7 has a re-entrant kink 8 at its centre to resist slippage when the pail is hung on a hook.

Around the top of the walls is a rim 14 strengthened by a downwardly directed rib 15.

On the rib 15 adjacent to each end of the handle 7 and above the attachment points for the handle is a pair of projections 10 which help hold the handle in an upright position.

The rim 14 also has a depression 16 formed therein above sides 3 and 4.

Rising from the base of the container is a wedge shaped tongue 11. This tongue is hollow with its internal recess 23 having its only opening to the base 2, as best seen in

Figure 3. The tongue 11 has two main side faces 19, facing walls 3 and 4, which rise to meet at a ridge strip 17. The tongue also has two end faces 21, which face walls 5 and 6, and which extend between the edges of the two side faces 19. The top edge 9 of the ridge strip 17 carries a row of small evenly spaced beads 12.

The tongue 11 is located centrally between walls 3 and 4 and centrally between walls 5 and 6. But there is a much smaller distance from the end faces 21 to walls 5 and 6 than from side faces 19 to walls 3 and 4. Therefore paint in the container forms two broad side pool areas 25 connected by two narrow channels 27.

The width of the tongue, being the distance between the end faces 21 along the bottom, is approximately 85% of the distance between the walls 5 and 6 at the bottom. Similarly the tongue width given by the distance between the end faces 21 near the top of the tongue is approximately 55% of the distance between the walls 5 and 6 at that level. By similarly comparing the thickness of the tongue, being the distance between side faces 19, with the distance between the walls 3 and 4, the tongue extends from 2% to 20% of the inside dimension of the container depending on the height of measurement.

Paint in the container may be quickly and effectively be mixed whenever necessary by holding the container by the handle and spinning it fairly quickly in successive clockwise and anti-clockwise directions. The paint is forced by the rotation to flow back and forth between the major side pools 25 through the channels 27 with great turbulence, so agitating and mixing the paint without the use of a conventional separate stirrer.

This container is intended for holding a supply of paint while painting. The top edge of the ridge strip 17 is for wiping excess paint off the bristles of a brush without turning the brush through 180° and the excess paint can run back inside the container. The excess paint on the bristles can be removed by wiping over the ridge strip in a quick and easy to and fro motion. This will eliminate time lost in brush rotation and provide a more efficient and effective way of removing excess paint evenly across the bristles.

As the tongue is located centrally within the container, there is a maximum spacing between the tongue and the walls for brush access to collect paint and to remove excess paint. As the wall (s) of the wedge is free away from the wall (s) of the container, there is sufficient gap between the wedge and the wall of the container, this will allow paint to flow freely and hence paint is always maintained in one level in the container.

A brush can be rested with its bristles on the ridge strip and its handle in one of the depressions 16. The beads 12 help prevent a brush resting in this way from sliding off the ridge strip when the container is moved such as being tilted when the painter is ascending or descending a ladder.

As there are two depressions 16 set opposite each other on the rim of the pot, it does not discriminate a left or right handed person. As the rim remains clean of paint, none will smear onto the brush handle. The height of the top of the ridge strip is set lower than the rim of the container. Thus, when a brush is resting with its bristles on the ridge strip, any paint flowing from the brush will run into the container rather than along the handle to the rim 14.

The walls and tongue are tapered to permit containers to be nested together for ease of transportation and storage. When one container is nested within another, the tongue 11 of the outer nesting container slides into the hollow 23 of the inner nested container.

Such nesting is of considerable importance to minimize storage and transportation costs for manufacturers and retailers. Also, professional painters often carry several empty cans and, as space can be important in their transport vehicle, the inter-nestability of the present embodiment offers significant avantage.

The container may be constructed of any suitable materials. Apart from the handle, it is preferably moulded in a single piece from a plastics material such as polyethylene or polypropylene. It is preferably manufactured from recyclable plastics material.

The main side faces 19 of the tongue can be used for distributing paint onto miniature rollers.

The pail is made of a size which is shallow enough to minimize the reach for paint, while still being deep enough to hold sufficient paint to reduce the number of paint refills to complete a paint job. A preferred size is a total capacity of about 3 litres. Such a container may be conveniently held in use by inserting the fingers of one hand into the hollow 23, placing the thumb onto either of walls 3 or 4 and resting the base of the container on the palm of the hand. In this way the weight of the paint pot is distributed in a larger area of the palm than carrying by the handle or edge of the container; this can reduce fatigue and speed up a painting job.

At the end of a paint job, the remaining paint can be emptied easily and a brush can easily remove excess paint from around the tongue and brush excess paint from the base of the container to minimize wasted paint. The paint pot can be readily cleaned with either water or solvent appropriate thinners for the type of base paint used. When the brush is washed it may be left to dry with the bristles gently wedged into the hollow of the tongue with the pail inverted. This helps to maintain the bristles in shape for storage until the next paint job.

In another embodiment, the tongue can be a separate item which clips on to the base of a container. This is illustrated in Figures 5 to 8 which are now referred to.

The container 31 has many features in common with the container shown in Figure 1. It has a centrally located tongue 33 dividing paint in the container into two broad side pools 45 connected by two narrow channels 47.

But container 31 also has some substantial differences with the container shown in Figure 1. The two major differences are the overall shape of the container and the form and attachment of the tongue. The container 31 has a tapered pail shape with a circular cross section.

The tongue 33 comprises a single flat sheet with four tabs 39 extending perpendicularly from the base 37 of the tongue. The tabs 39 extend alternately in opposite directions from the tongue and locate beneath four corresponding clasps 41 moulded into the base 32 of the container. Adjacent tabs 39 on each side of the tongue are spaced apart by a distance about 10% more than the length of the tabs. In this way the tongue can be easily assembled to the container base by pushing the base of the tongue against the base of the container with the tabs 39 and clasps 41 alternating and then sliding the tongue longitudinal to its base 37 until the tabs engage beneath the clasps. The tongue may be removed again by reversing the procedure. The tabs and clasps are dimensioned such that they click-stop at the engaged position but are nevertheless readily disengagable even when the container is part full of paint.

The ridge 35 of the tongue 33 is scalloped. As an alternative to the row of beads 12 as in Figure 1, or the row of scallops 35 as in Figure 5, the ridge of a tongue may be serrated or have a concave form, all of which serve to restrain brush movement.

The width of the tongue 33 is approximately 75% of the inside diameter of the container at the bottom and is approximately 55% of the inside diameter near the top of the tongue.

The thickness of the tongue is about 3% of the inside diameter.

In a further embodiment, instead of a flat sheet being attached to the bottom of the container as shown in Figures 5 and 6, the sheet may be attached to the wall of the container by a similar system of tabs and clasps. This may involve the side of the sheet running for its full height down the inside of the wall of the container or it may lie adjacent to the wall only where it is attached. If the sheet lies adjacent to the wall for the full height of the sheet, its side opposite the side fastened to the wall does not reach the opposite side of the container in order to allow a sufficient channel for the paint to flow between the major pools of paint on either side of the sheet forming the divider. A sheet attached to the wall may have holes passing through the sheet close to the wall; these would provide an additional flow path for the paint.

A container according to this invention may be provided with a removable seal or lid or cover for the mouth thereof, so as to prevent paint from spillage, evaporation and prolong shelf life. Paint can be sold in such a lidded container thus adding value for the customer when compared to purchase of paint in a standard container which is normally discarded after being emptied. For such a purpose, the depressions 16 on the rim would be omitted in order to obtain the required seal. Also, in order to provide a better seal, the rim of the container may carry a groove around its length, adapted to receive and clasp a mating rib formed on the underside of the lid.

Throughout this specification, unless the context requires otherwise, the word "comprise", and variations such as"comprises"and"comprising", will be understood to imply the inclusion of a stated integer or group of integers but not the exclusion of any other integer or group of integers.

It will be appreciated that many modifications and variations may be made to the embodiments described above without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention.